For South Africa, 2024 is proving to be the year of AML compliance fines. As the deadlines for compliance with FICA have come and gone, the FIC is beginning to hand down fines to companies that remain uncompliant (read more). As this process begins, how does South Africa’s AML compliance fines compare other fines across the world?

Largest AML Fines in 2024

1.     MGM Grand & The Cosmopolitan - $7.45 million settlement

Two of the largest casinos in Las Vegas – the MGM Grand and The Cosmopolitan – will pay a combined fine of $7.45 (R130 million) as punishment for violating key AML laws relating to illicit sports betting schemes. 

2.     Estate Agents - $2.1 million fine

In the United Kingdom, 245 different estate agents will pay AML compliance fines that combined total over $2.1 million (R37 million). These fines for hundreds of non-compliant estate agents demonstrates what lies ahead for South African real estate agents, who still have one of the lowest rates of FICA compliance in South Africa and are coming under increasing scrutiny from the FIC.

3.     Commerzbank - $1.5 million fine

The German retail bank Commerzbank was fined $1.5 million (R26.3 million) as punishment for violating its AML compliance obligations and failing to ensure that its AML systems and procedures met regulatory standards.

Largest AML Fines Ever – Over Four Billion Dollars?

1.     Binance – $4.3 Billion

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange was slapped with a $4.3 million fine for repeated violations and international and US federal AML laws. Binance’s scandal included the company’s facilitation of suspicious transactions for terrorist organizations like al-Queda and ISIS.

In the official court filing of United States vs Binance, one charge alleged that a compliance employee for Binance wrote: 

“We need a banner ‘is washing drug money too hard these days? Come to Binance, we have cake for you.’”

For more crazy facts about Binance’s AML scandal, read our full coverage article here.

2.     Standard Chartered – $1.1 Billion

In 2019, the British multinational bank, Standard Chartered, was fined over $1 billion as punishment for the processing transactions for dozens of sanctioned companies and territories, including Iran, Cuba and Syria.

3.     Deutsche Bank – $630 Million

The German multinational bank, Deutsche Bank, was slapped with $630 million fine for its failure to meet AML compliance obligations, specifically for accepting funds from Russian clients that had associations with money laundering rings.

AML Penalties in South Africa – How Do FICA Compliance Fines Compare?

It has now been several months since the deadlines for Directive 6 and Directive 7 have passed. the best

A South African law firm was recently fined R7.7 million as punishment for its failure to comply with FICA. The firm was also fined an additional R50,000 for failing to submit its RCR.

The fines for FICA non-compliance are massive. The FIC is allowed to issue a wide range of fines to both individuals and legal entities, which can be as high as:

• R10 million for individuals (CEOs and compliance officers)
• R50 million for legal entities (e.g., businesses and trusts)

It is widely expected that the FIC will begin imposing larger and larger fines in order to force widespread FICA across South Africa. The publication of this R7.7 million Rand fine represents the FIC making an example of one such case and is a sign of the thousands of fines that will inevitably be issued if businesses fail to become FICA compliant themselves.

When FICA compliance is so easy to achieve, it is not worth putting yourself and your business at risk of fines worth millions of Rands.

AML Screening and FICA Compliance Solutions for South Africa

ThisIsMe offers a comprehensive range of products and services that are perfectly designed to help your business meet its AML and FICA compliance obligations.

FICA compliance obligations can be complex and multicateted, but our following three services are perfect for meeting all essential client screening obligations.

• ID Check: Verify a South African ID number and get essential information for FICA compliance.
• AML Risk Screening: Screen an individual for PEP, DPIP and FPPO status, their presence on international watchlist and sanctions databases, and more.
• FICA Express: Our leading new service combines an ID check and AML Risk Screening into a one-click service that perfectly meets your FICA compliance needs for only R9.95 per customer.

To experience our software in action and see how it can address your business’s FICA compliance challenges, simply schedule a demo here.